SINGAPORE – Amtek Engineering plans to acquire United States-based Interplex Industries for as much as US$210 million (S$267 million) to create one of the world’s largest precision engineering services firms, the Singapore-listed company said yesterday.

Interplex is a global leader in the design and manufacture of miniature precision engineered solutions for customised electronic applications.

It serves industries including automotive, industrial/electrical, mobile devices, and more recently, medical original equipment manufacturers.

In the six months to November, the company generated revenue of US$182.4 million.

The enlarged entity will have total revenue of about US$1 billion annually from operations in 15 countries, where it employs 13,500 staff. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of next year, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

The precision engineering industry in Singapore generates around S$35 billion in revenue each year and is a key area in the manufacturing sector here.

Amtek currently has operations in several countries in the region including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. By buying Interplex, it gains a foothold in the US, Mexico, Hungary and India.

Amtek Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Yeong said: “Interplex’s miniature precision engineered solutions, blue chip customer base and global footprint are highly complementary to Amtek.”

The purchase price includes a base amount of US$165 million to be paid at the closing of the transaction, a deferred payment of US$11 million and earn-out payments of up to US$34 million that are based on the operating earnings of Interplex from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2016.

Before the after-market announcement yesterday, Amtek shares closed up 2.9 per cent at 54 cents each. WITH CHANNEL NEWSASIA